


Venom that Heals

by anko_marshmallow



Category: Naruto
Genre: Angst, F/M, Hurt/Comfort, Romance, Slow Romance
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-12-14
Updated: 2019-01-07
Packaged: 2019-09-17 23:57:31
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 3
Words: 6,217
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16984236
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/anko_marshmallow/pseuds/anko_marshmallow
Summary: Kakashi Hatake and Anko Mitarashi are roommates in a condominium in Konoha. Shortly after Sasuke leaves the village to join Orochimaru in pursuit of power, Anko mysteriously disappears as well. The events that transpire in Kakashi's search for Anko put the romantic tension in their relationship to the test, and it challenges the emotional walls the two both hold around themselves due to their traumatic pasts.(not the best at writing summaries sorry! - hope you enjoy <3)





	1. Prologue

“I don’t know if I can go drinking with Gai again for a very long time,” Kakashi slurred. He trudged along the night streets of Konoha next to his roommate, the purple haired kunoichi Anko Mitarashi as they drunkenly embarked on their way back to their shared apartment after a night partying.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about Hatake,” Anko sloppily exclaimed, “Your RIVAL knows how to PARTY” her roaring verbalizations made her intoxicated and unsteady gait sway back and forth in a zig zag.

Kakashi widened his eyes to himself. “Oh boy.”

“You alright there, sport?” Kakashi giggled, more friendly and emotive than usual.

“DON’T EVEN... WORRY,” Anko said waving her hand in the air, “I’m totally,” a hiccup interrupted her, “I’m the best... captain of the sea... I will sail this boat safely.. Back to SHORE” Anko decisively threw her arm forward in front of her. She paused for a moment as the force of that movement caused her balance to waiver, meanwhile she mindlessly giggled to herself.

Kakashi stood close to her and grabbed her other arm to steady her.

“Anko-chan,” he chuckled, too drunk to hide the endearment that escaped into the tone of his voice.

Without self awareness, Anko melted for a moment and subtly leaned closer to Kakashi’s arm, not sure why she felt unexpectedly warm and flustered at Kakashi’s physical contact.

She quickly snapped into lucidity and tried to stifle and evade her reaction, and immediately ...scurried away in a chaotic trajectory.

“LAST ONE THERE DOES THE DISHES!!!” she cried shortly before tripping over herself and landing face down on the pavement.

“I’M OKAY,” Anko called out, her body still facing into the ground as she was slowly crawling to position herself on all fours.

 “You’re a HAZARD to society,” Kakashi said, slightly out of breath as he half jogged to catch up with her. “Come on,” he picked up his plastered roommate off the pavement and hoisted her onto his back piggy back style.

 Anko hesitated and thought about protesting, but she wouldn’t admit that she loved being close to Kakashi. She blushed to herself and then said, “We CARRY ONWARD,” and pointed her index finger up with valiance.  
  
—————-  
  
Anko belligerently stumbled off Kakashi’s back into their living room, darting her eyes around like a raccoon. Still very drunk.

Kakashi raised his eyebrows. “Hey.. maybe you should sit down. And you should definitely drink some water,” he said while taking off his flak jacket and hitai-ate. Despite his intoxication, he still made sure to hang up his jacket neatly on the hook of the apartment’s front door.

Anko lunged carelessly onto the couch with a thud, “YOU should drink some water,” she cackled, rolling around and giggling to herself.

Kakashi smiled under his mask.

“What the fuck is wrong with you,” his voice broke into a little deranged laugh halfway through his sentence.

Anko threw her head back, maniacally snickering into her hands that covered her face. She re-positioned her head forward and peered at Kakashi through the spaces of her fingers with a wild but warm grin.

“Is this what happens when you activate your curse mark, Anko-chan?” Kakashi chided.

 Anko’s body snapped into a hilt as she surrendered into another fit of furious cackling.

Kakashi shook his head and rolled his eyes, but he couldn’t help but chuckle with Anko’s contagious laugh in a crescendo while he tiredly dragged one of hands across his exposed eye.

He sat on the arm of the couch next to Anko’s feet and set a glass of water on the coffee table.

“Here.”

Anko sat up groggily, sipping the water and staring off into space. Her gaze shifted to Kakashi’s Icha Icha novel sitting on the coffee table. She set her glass down and turned to him with a coy grin. Anko scooted towards him to nudge his arm while he still sat on the arm of the couch.

“What are your little books about anyway, Kakashi-kun?”

Kakashi coughed and his eyes shifted. His posture stiffened and he could see Anko through his peripheral vision as his head and neck were frozen straightforward and his shoulders were hunched up like ice.

He usually didn’t get nervous like this. Something about Anko’s voice sent chills down his spine and made him feel thrilled, electrified, alive. But also.. terrified.

“Stay cool, Hatake. Don’t be stupid. She’s just your roommate,” he thought to himself.

“Uhm,” he coughed,” he tried to relax his shoulders and he turned his vision to meet hers, “You know. They’re... uh.... “ his voice trailed off and his eyes looked up, searching for a non-confrontational response...To no avail.

Anko leaned forward and rested her chin on both her folded hands, pursing her lips into a triumphant and smug smile.

Her eyes widened mischievously, “You’re blushing, Kakashi.”

She was right.

Kakashi let out a small huff and got up from the arm of the couch to resume a spot several inches away from her on the other seat next to her, making sure to keep his distance.

“You’re funny, ...Anko-chan” he said while leaning his head back onto the couch, avoiding eye contact.

Anko crawled towards Kakashi, kneeling in front of him, perched less than a foot away from his face.

He felt that electric feeling again pulse through him. He adjusted himself slightly towards her, feeling alert in her close presence.

“I’ve lived with you for almost a year and I’ve never seen your face,” Anko speculated, squinting at him as if she was trying to see through the black cloth concealing his visage.

Thunder clouds rolled through Kakashi’s mind as he watched Anko study him. Meanwhile, his throat choked up, if he could think of anything to say, he wouldn’t be able to. What was happening to him? His mind was suddenly a careless hurricane and the only thought he could conjure from that chaos is that his roommate Anko, the loud and funny kunoichi who always steals his toothpaste, the one who he found under a genjutsu in Orochimaru’s hideout years ago, who was right in front of him breaking down his front like he’s never felt before.. looked really beautiful right now.

His face softened. “You’re full of it, Anko-chan.”

Anko leaned even closer to him. She was about 4 inches from his face and she placed her hand on his thigh. “Do you like me, Kakashi-kun?”

Kakashi sharply inhaled through his nose. Again, there was no feasible verbal response he could muster. But deep down... he knew the answer. Perhaps he could show her without words.

He shifted his legs, now kneeling in front of her to meet her gaze straight on. Anko’s breath began to tremble.

Kakashi gingerly took Anko’s wrists and guided them towards his face, cupping his fingers around hers and curling them under his mask.

Anko gasped and her breath started to heave. Her usual brash and bold demeanor started to crack.

 “Yes,” Kakashi answered. Anko revealed the face under his mask and paused to admire it for a moment, still touching his face. She smiled warmly.

Anko’s expression turned into a cunning wince. She slinked towards his neck and tilted his head by gripping his jawbone. Kakashi flinched.

Anko took hold of his shoulder with one hand, still securing his jawline with the other.

Without moving his head, Kakashi’s eyes tried to follow her to see what she was about to do but she was too close to his neck for him to tell.

He felt her breath tickle his skin and in a low almost inaudible voice Anko murmured, “So when are you going to kiss me, you idiot?”

Kakashi felt lightning ignite all over his body. An outside force had possessed him. He surged towards her, cupping his hands around her face and the two exchanged a fiery and passionate kiss. Hungry and heedless. Anko greedily gripped the hair on the back of his neck, whimpering into his mouth.

Kakashi wrapped his arms around Anko’s waist and hoisted her on top of him. Anko embraced her arms around his neck as Kakashi squeezed her hips against his.

And then the world stopped. Kakashi heard this profound, deep, disturbing ringing in his ears and a horrible knot of dread churned in his stomach. His vision blurred and Anko pulled herself from him. He tried to hear the words she was saying but all he could hear was that awful ringing.

He started feeling a different electricity. Another sound joined the hideous ringing rhapsody: the familiar crackling sound of his deadly lightning blade.

Fear shot from his stomach through his arms and legs and his head went numb. It was as his he left his body and he had no control. He tried to say something, he tried to move, but it was no use, he was powerless watching in horror what was about unfold in front of him.

Anko stared at him in confusion and he so badly wanted to reassure her. His eyes burned as he saw his lightning blade in his peripheral vision.

Silence. A white flash.

Anko stared at him keeled over on the couch, her mouth sputtering blood, his chidori penetrating her chest.

A familiar voice echoed,

“Ka-kashi.”


	2. Genjutsu

“Kakashi.” “KAKASHI!” a walkie talkie crackled on the copy ninja’s side table as he thrusted himself up, sticky with sweat and mortified with confusion and panic from his nightmare.

“Hound to base,” the walkie talkie crackled again. It was his pug ninken Pakkun.

Kakashi’s chest heaved and his eyes darted around the room for an instant before he began to fumble for the walkie talkie. With hands trembling, he cleared his throat and responded, “Roger, Pakkun. Good morning.”

“Still no sign of Anko, Boss.” said Pakkun, “the 7 of us have searched the 10 mile perimeter of Konoha looking for her scent and we can’t find that little snake anywhere.”

“Did you check around the Valley of the End again? I’m almost sure she’s looking for Sasuke.”

“Yeah boss. We got nothin. The rain killed her scent just like it did with Sasuke’s’”

“..Copy.”

“Fuck,” Kakashi hissed under his breath, as he pulsed his clenched fist. He and his ninken had alternated in shifts looking for his roommate Anko who had been missing for 3 days now. Possibilities of something happening to her continued to creep into Kakashi’s brain, weaving wicked webs of a morbidly familiar dread.

He relaxed his facial expression and inhaled deeply in attempt to drive the feeling away so he could address the situation logically.

Anko is a strong shinobi who’s held her own against Orochimaru herself.. She should definitely still be alive, but Where? Maybe she’s somewhere in Konoha somehow? Maybe she went to visit a friend in another village? But for three days? Without telling him? Their last conversation was fairly inflammatory and it gave him a lot of reason to believe that Anko went off to put herself in a dangerous situation.

****************************************************

_“Is Naruto okay!??” Anko burst into Kakashi’s bedroom, opening the door so quickly and violently it caused a small gust of “wind” to scatter papers on Kakashi’s desk._

_Kakashi was hunched over on the edge of his bed without his flak jacket or hitai-ate with his hands pressed flat in a praying position in front of his face._

_His eyes flickered out of his spell when she hurled herself into his room. He replied,  “He’s got some superficial wounds but he will be fine if he listens and stays in the hospital.”_

_Anko sighed with relief and leaned against the doorway to his bedroom, “Where’d you find him?”_

_“The Final Valley. We were lucky to catch up to him because of all the rain obscuring his scent.”_

_“I’m glad he’s okay.”_

_“Me too,” Kakashi gave a little eye smile, but it was fleeting and vacant._

_Anko stepped closer to the Copy Ninja, “Where’s Sasuke?”_

_Kakashi stopped staring off into space and his open eye darted to meet Anko, his eyebrows furrowing slightly._

_With her hands on her hips, Anko loomed over him with a demanding and ferocious glare._

_Kakashi broke his eye contact with her and got up from the edge of the bed. He re-positioned himself by his side table, the bed creating a physical boundary between the two of them._

_Anko stared at him intensely still waiting for her response, “Kakashi?”_

_He shook his head silently, looking away from her._

_“Are you serious?” Anko quickly pounded towards him, “We have to go get him back. We have to go now, we can’t just sit around and wait. We’re wasting-”_

_Kakashi turned to Anko and put his hand on her shoulder._

_“Anko-chan,” her defiant and angry demeanor tamed only slightly at Kakashi’s gesture._

_“There are 4 shinobi from the last Sasuke Retrieval Mission in intensive care right now due to Orochimaru’s subordinates,”_

_“Wait.. “ Anko’s energy deflated a bit, “Really?”_

_“And it’s pouring rain,” Kakashi continued, removing his hand from her shoulder._

_“Who’s in the hospital?”_

_“Choji, Neji, Kiba and of course Naruto are all in intensive care.”_

_Anko hung her head. Feeling defeated, she was silent for a long moment before she responded._

_“But we can’t just leave Sasuke behind,” her voice became more frantic, “I can’t just let this keep happening!”_

_Kakashi’s glazed half lidded eyes examined the kunoichi in front of him through the fog of his mind. He felt like he was made out of wet cement and the world was running in slow motion around him. This was difficult for him too._

_Her voice stern, she continued, “Orochimaru is callous and he’ll chew him up and spit him out just like he did to me, but not before he exploits him to put the people of Konoha in, like, real danger. Kakashi, I can’t just fucking sit around like an idiot, I was so close to stopping him!” She was practically shouting by the end of her sentence._

_After a delay of a few seconds Kakashi responded, “We won’t leave Sasuke behind. We just need to be practical about going after him. We don’t want to set ourselves up for failure. Waiting and calculating the best plan is a way to look out for ourselves and for Sasuke.”_

_Not a word scratched Anko’s stubborn surface, but she didn’t want to argue with Kakashi. She let out a small huff and muttered under her breath, “That’s not good enough for me,” before turning around and leaving Kakashi’s bedroom, slamming the door._

********************************

_“Maybe I should have gone after her,”_ Kakashi thought to himself, “ _She was clearly really upset about something personal and traumatic for her and that’s why it’s very likely she did something irresponsible. If she had a friend to talk to maybe she wouldn’t have left,”_ he thought with guilt, as he absentmindedly started to get ready and change out of his sweat drenched clothes.

He was still shaken from the nightmare that he had about impaling her with his chidori. He hadn’t had a nightmare like that in a while. He could never willingly murder Anko.

But would he ever kiss her?

Kakashi was unsettled by not only the violent content of his dream, but also by the fact that he .. loved the feeling of being intimate with her, even if it wasn’t real.

Before Anko disappeared, Kakashi definitely found himself warming up to her so much that sometimes she’d do or say little things that would make his heart swell.

But whenever he thought about acting on these feelings, he was faced with this wall of fear and doubt. Letting yourself feel affection for somebody, and letting somebody get that close to you comes with the risk of you losing them again. And Kakashi’s absolute greatest fear was that the way he’d lose somebody he loves would be to himself.

That fear was one of the great burdens he began to trudge with every day after Rin’s death, and to this day Kakashi is yet to discover new ways that his past trauma affects the way he perceives and navigates his current relationships.

Once again Kakashi’s walkie talkie crackled on his side table.

“RIVAL! DO YOU COPY!”

_“Here we go,”_ Kakashi thought.

“Heyyy Gaaai,” He dryly droned.

“Please!” Gai protests, “Do not address me by that title on this channel, Rival." His tone, as always, was rich with respect and camaraderie.

"You must remember that I......am ~ _Falcon_ ," you could hear him grinning through the speaker with pride.

Kakashi scoffed, vaguely amused, "Why'd you call?"

"Well," Gai could read Kakashi’s fatigue, "I was going to ask if you still wanted to bring Sakura to train with me and Ten-Ten this afternoon."

"I don’t think so. Anko still hasn't come home. It’s my turn to scout for her, my ninken need to sleep."

“Well I’d be happy to scout with you, Rival,” Gai started, “and if you still wanted to go to Tsunade's office today to express your concern over the matter first” he pauses, clears his throat,

“I'd go with you.” Gai's usual enthusiasm was replaced with a touching sincerity towards his fellow shinobi.

“I think I'll take you up on that,” Kakashi replied, “She's been gone for almost three days and to me that's just...” his voice trailed off for a moment. He was so tired he almost forgot to finish his sentence: “It's discouraging.”

Gai hummed in acknowledgment.

“How about I bring you some coffee, eh?” his enthusiastic youthful flair had returned to his voice.

“Thanks Gai,” Kakashi, sat up in his bed, preparing himself to get out of bed and start getting ready, “But just tea is fine..... that much caffeine gives me,” he inhaled sharply, “So much anxiety.”

“You got it, Rival” Gai chimed.

Before Kakashi could respond, a series of quick urgent knocks resounded on the front door. The characteristically impatient and almost panicked raps to the door were familiar to Kakashi.

_Is that Anko??_

He pocketed his walkie talkie and darted to the front door, yanking it open with a fierce urgency.

Kakashi froze.

Anko stood in a wilted posture before him with five kunais impaled throughout her upper body, reaping severe wounds that drenched her beige trench coat in blood. Despite her grisly condition and quivering knees, she wore her usual shit eating grin, and was wielding a sloppy peace sign.

_“Is this a genjutsu?,”_ Kakashi thought to himself in a hazed panic.

“Anko-chan..” he stammered. His arms hesitantly reached out towards her, hovering just before her shivering frame.

“Sorry, Kakashi-kun,” Anko heaved, she attempted to sound cheery, “...I forgot my keys again,” drops of blood sputtered from her mouth as her balance began to teeter. Her grin faded from her face, and her eyes rolled back into her head. Her knees buckled under her as she started to collapse.

“Hey…!” Kakashi caught her body as it crumbled towards him. He found himself trembling as he solemnly surveyed the lifeless Anko.

Still despondent, he replied, “Don’t worry about it.”

Only a moment passed before Kakashi broke from his daze. With a nimble caution, he gathered Anko’s limp body and placed her over his shoulder. Not even locking the door behind him, he began bounding down the street outside of the condominium.   

Still in transit, Kakashi hit the “Talk” button on his transceiver.

“Gai.” His tone was intense and stern.

“Kakashi?” Gai replied anxiously.

“Don’t bring me coffee. I’m going to the hospital.” Kakashi was now out the complex, running through the streets of Konoha at 6 in the morning with his roommate’s half dead body draped over his shoulder.

“Why?” Gai started, “What happened?”

Kakashi stopped for a moment to readjust Anko’s body, as he was careful not to disturb her existing wounds. He reached for the walkie talkie in his back pocket and responded,

“I found Anko.”


	3. Scum

 

_“In the ninja world, those who break the rules are scum.”_

 Unconscious, Anko was held up in a sitting position on a bed in Konoha Hospital while Shizune, the hokage’s brunette apprentice, worked to extract the five kunais from her body.

 Sitting in a chair next to her hospital bed, Kakashi’s usual calm and aloof body language was markedly different. His posture was bent over as he watched Shizune’s work while wearing a serious and pensive expression. With tired eyes, he rested his chin on his thumb as his index, middle, and ring finger were spread across his face.

 Anko had been impaled twice in her back, once in her upper left arm, once in the flesh of her stomach just by her right hip, and once in the chest, underneath the middle of her left clavicle.

 The fishnet of Anko’s top had been torn and stretched around the kunais to allow Shizune better access to heal the wounds with her medical ninjutsu, and her trench coat was draped over the foot of the bed as it was still saturated with blood and rain water.

 Shizune leaned Anko forward to expose her back as she held an aura of healing chakra over her wound and extricated the kunai from her skin with her other hand.

 “She’s lost a lot of blood… but there’s no sign of significant hemorrhaging. The first one’s almost out.”

 As the wider portion of the diamond shaped kunai passed out of Anko’s flesh, a frantic groan could be heard from the now conscious Anko.

 Kakashi’s instincts caused his eyes to flicker and he cocked his head to try and make eye contact with his injured friend.

 Anko grimaced, and with a face still coated in both dried and fresh blood, her eyes fluttered open to hazily meet his gaze.

 "What’s up, Pup?” she greeted. Her eyes twitched as she tried to keep the pain from swallowing her defiant smirk.  

There were a million things in the world Kakashi wanted to say back to her. “Where the hell were you?” “What the fuck happened?” “Don’t ever disappear like that again,” but for that instant he was simply happy to see his friend again.

With his free hand, he held up his index and middle finger, holding the two of them together. Smiling softly, Kakashi replied, “Hey Anko-chan.~”

 Her shoulders relaxed and her eyelids lowered slightly as she felt relieved and comforted in the presence of her familiar friend. But her relief was short lived.

 The door to the hospital room slammed open, “WHAT THE HELL HAPPENED TO YOU,” boomed a voice from the corner of the room. It belonged to none other than Tsunade Senju, the 5th Hokage of Konoha, and the Princess of the Hidden Leaf.

 The busty blonde in low hanging pigtails stomped to the foot of Anko’s hospital bed with a challenging scowl.

 Anko gave a distressed look to Kakashi, almost to infer “What the the hell is wrong with her?”

 “Uhhhh..,” was Anko’s meager response.

 Shizune interjected, “This will sting a bit, Anko,” as she began the withdrawal of the second kunai transfixed in her back.

 Anko sharply inhaled through her teeth and her head darted forward in her agony. Once she caught her breath, she gave her belated reply to Tsunade’s question, “I was looking for Sasuke.”

 Tsunade crossed her arms and shifted her weight to her hip, “That didn’t answer my question, Mitarashi.”

 Kakashi was thankful for his mask and hitai-ate as they concealed the horror and helplessness in his face while he watched Anko writhe in pain. When he considered reaching out his hand in comfort, he quickly drew it back in fear it might be unwanted or aggravate her existing wounds.

 “Second one is out,” Shizune announced quietly.

 Anko drew in a quivering breath to give the Hokage the response she wanted, “I went to an old hideout of Orochimaru’s..” she paused to gasp for for air, “I thought I could find a clue.. Or something.. Some lead to Sasuke’s location.”

 Kakashi lifted his head off of his hand, becoming more attentive. He looked to Tsunade to gauge her reaction - it was bleak.

 She stood fuming more furious than ever and adjusted her feet below her.

 “So one of his subordinates did this to you?” she asked harshly.

 “No,” Anko responded. Shizune positioned her on her back so she could begin to remove the kunais on the front of her body.

 “I fell into a trap,” Anko choked out as the pain of the third extraction consumed her.

 Tsunade glared. “Why would you deploy yourself on an S-rank job without any approval? That’s considered a rogue mission, Mitarashi.”

 Shizune peered at Tsunade, squinting her eyes skeptically for just a moment before continuing the next extraction by Anko’s left arm.

 “Oh, but it was fine for Shikamaru and his squad to go?” Anko defied, still out of breath from pain.

 “Yes. Because I specifically _assigned_ the mission to them. I can’t believe you went alone, Anko. Considering the locations of your wounds, you’re lucky to be alive.”

 Even if Anko felt like replying, she didn’t have the ability to as Shizune was in the middle (and the most difficult) part of the third extraction. Her hips bucked up slightly, but she tried to keep herself still and monitor her body language to preserve her tough exterior.

 “Give me one of the extracted kunais. I’m going to perform a rapid analysis down the hall,” Tsunade demanded.

 “Yes Hokage-sama,” Shizune obliged, as she handed her the first extracted Kunai in the metal tray.

 “I’ll be back.” Tsunade said with a curt tone as she exited the room.

 Meanwhile, Kakashi was hunched over with his head cupped into both of his hands as he watched Anko intently.

 “Hey Anko,” he said, trying to sound upbeat, “Let’s call Gai.”

 Even through her anguish, Anko let out a regretful chuckle. “Oh my god.”

 Kakashi dug for the walkie talkie in his blood stained flak jacket. He hadn’t yet received an opportunity to change out of the clothes Anko had shed her blood all over.

 “Gai,” he started, “Anko wants to say hi.”

 Anko rolled her eyes to herself with a small smile as Kakashi held the receiver to her ear.

 The walkie talkie crackled, “ANKO-SAMA!!!! I AM PLEASED TO HEAR THE CONFIRMATION OF YOUR SURVIVAL!!”

 Finally a big grin spread across Anko’s face. With a dazed expression, she weakly replied, “Gai… I need your yoooooouth.”

 “DO NOT FRET MITARASHI-SAMA, I AM CONFIDENT YOU WILL PREVAIL. WE WERE VERY CONCERNED, KAKASHI WAS SO WORRIED HE WAS LOSIN-” Kakashi snatched the transceiver, swiftly clicking the the talk button to mute the rest of Gai’s sentence.

 “Do you still have my first aid kit, Gai?” Kakashi interrupted.

 “YES MY RIVAL, THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR LENDING IT TO ME I AM ALWAYS IN DEBT TO YOU, MY ADMIRATION FOR YOU IS UNENDING-”

 Anko and Kakashi exchanged exasperated glances and they both giggled together at Gai’s youthful monologue.

 “Sorry Anko, I have to work on the fourth extraction,” Shizune said as she positioned herself by Anko’s clavicle.

 As her hand slowly extricated the kunai from her skin she continued, “I apologize on behalf of Hokage-sama. She’s... hungover.”

 Furrowing her eyebrows and shifting her legs in pain, Anko had not much of a response other than “I don’t care.”

 Shizune widened her audience and spoke as if she was targeting both Kakashi and Anko, “Your wounds still need a lot of time to heal so you will be out of commission after this. No sparring, no fighting, no missions, or you will risk reopening them. Considering how understaffed Konoha already is, that could be why Tsunade is upset.”

 Kakashi gave a small nod in acknowledgement.

 “I’m surprised you didn’t puncture a lung,” Shizune continued, “if you got tension pneumothorax out there you could’ve died.”

 As Shizune extracted the broad segment of the kunai that stubbornly crawled out of her chest, Anko let out a panicked shriek in accordance to her ministrations. Feeling a weight on her right shoulder, Anko glanced over to see Kakashi's hand.

 For a brief moment, Anko and Kakashi exchanged a warm and knowing look between each other before Anko broke eye contact and succumbed to another wave of agony. Due to the kunai’s close proximity to her lungs, Shizune had to be slow and careful with this extraction.

 “Just one more,” Shizune said, putting the fourth bloody kunai aside.

 With no visible facial expression other than his half lidded eyes, Kakashi reached out to Anko and endearingly scratched her hair.

 “Am I one of your ninken now?” she shot him a cheeky smile with knitted eyebrows.

 “You’re the one who called me Pup, Anko-chan,” he said in a tone so stone cold matter-of-fact that it was smug and subtly chaotic.

 “God damnit, Kakashi,” Anko sighed and threw her head back while letting out an exasperated giggle.

 Kakashi’s voice was more gentle this time, “You okay?”

 “Yeah. That tickled,” she joked in an attempt to reassure her friend.

 Kakashi chuckled halfheartedly. Anko’s efforts of reassurance were currently futile.

 “How long did it take you to get back to Konoha after you were poisoned?” asked Shizune.

 “In all honesty Shizune, I don’t know,” was Anko’s response, “Everything got really fuzzy after I fell into the trap.”

 “I see,” Shizune replied. She resituated herself at Anko’s right hip in preparation for the last extraction.

 Once again, Princess Tsunade barged into the room.

 “YOU HAVE TO LEAVE,” she severely ordered. Holding a sheet of paper, she wore a forbidding facial expression.

 Anko, half delirious from the extractions, almost laughed when she weakly replied, “Why?’

“There was a dangerous poison on that kunai, Mitarashi, and I wouldn’t be surprised if it were already starting to affect you,” the Hokage warned.

 Kakashi gave Anko a worried look as she slowly sat up and responded, “Hokage-sama.. Orochimaru gave me an antibody to poisons a long time ago.”

Tsunade’s eyes narrowed. “The antibody doesn’t work against all poisons, Anko. You’re only human. Once Shizune is done removing the kunais you must leave the hospital immediately.”

 “I don’t understand,” Anko scoffed.

 Kakashi leaned forward and rested his chin on his hand, his exposed eye alert and paying attention.

 “Orochimaru engineered a test poison to use on enemy forces during the Second Shinobi War,” Tsunade started, “He called it Datura.”

 Shizune gave Anko a grave stare as she silently began the last extraction, resulting in a low and resounding groan coming from Anko.

 Anko, whose sweaty hair had twisted out of her signature ponytail, breathlessly grunted through her pain, “I don’t know what that is.”

 “Datura is an extremely powerful poison that causes elaborate and vivid hallucinations, amnesia, panic, possible cardiac failure, and it is known to cause extremely violent behavior.”

 Kakashi and Anko turned to each other with a shared concern in their eyes.

 “Orochimaru poisoned one of our enemy shinobi with Datura in hopes of subduing him but he became rabid with a delirious and belligerent bloodthirst. He went on a killing spree, ending the lives of his own fellow shinobi in his confused daze.”

 Shizune placed the last kunai from Anko’s body on the metal tray, immediately heading to the sink to vigorously wash her hands.

 “Anko is undoubtedly a powerful shinobi and I cannot put the lives of the other patients at this hospital at risk when and if she loses lucidity.”

 Slowly sitting herself up, Anko held an intense and challenging glare at Tsunade. She opened her mouth as if she was going to say something.

 “Tsunade-sama,” Kakashi interjected, “Considering the other possible effects, she could die without medical attention.”

 “And so could other patients,” Tsunade responded decisively. She turned to Anko, “You should’ve known better than to try to face him alone.”

 Anko’s shoulders raised up slightly as a toxic scowl painted her face. In a compensatory explosion, she threw her shoulders back and shouted, “AT LEAST I WASN’T GONNA HEAL HIS ARMS, YOU ALCOHOLIC BITCH.”

 With widened eyes, Kakashi tried to hide how stunned he was. He glimpsed at Shizune who looked absolutely mortified, and then turned to Tsunade in horrified anticipation.

 “Get the fuck out,” the Princess hissed.

 Anko rolled her eyes, “Let’s get out of here, Kakashi. I’ll be fine anyway.” She began to weakly arise out of the hospital bed despite her compromised condition.

 Taking a step forward, Kakashi instinctively thought about stopping Anko from leaving.. But he knew she was stubborn and had no choice.

 “Race you there,” Anko leered to her roommate.

 Raising his eyebrows, Kakashi playfully replied, “I’ll catch up to you.”

 She winked at Kakashi with an upward nod as she hobbled out of the hospital room.

 Once he heard the door shut, Kakashi solemnly addressed the Princess, “Hokage-sama… You have to let her stay.”

 Tsunade stood in front of him with her arms crossed like an unshakable tower. Shizune, visibly flustered, gathered the bloody sharps that had been extracted and scurried out of the hospital room.

 “Absolutely not, Kakashi. She’s lucky I don’t banish her from Konoha,” the Princess spat.

 Kakashi’s eyes lost focus and he stared off into space, his gaze searching the room for an answer to this situation. He usually doesn’t tolerate or support volatile behavior either.. But Anko kind of had a point about Tsunade almost healing Orochimaru’s arms.

 “She could die, Tsunade-sama,” He noted.

 “And so could the patients of this hospital. I will not let myself be responsible for endangering the people of Konoha.”

 Feeling defeated, Kakashi took a step back and scratched the back of his head.

 Tsunade surveyed the esteemed Copy Ninja and bit her lip as a spark of empathy glimmered through her.

 “I’ll do you one favor, Hatake.”

 Kakashi’s ears perked up.

 “I’ll dispatch a squad to find an antidote in the next town. Due to the rarity of the poison Anko’s been afflicted with, we unfortunately don’t have it.”

 “Let me go instead,” Kakashi said.

 Putting her hands on her hips, Tsunade replied, “No. You need to watch over Anko. Make sure she doesn’t destroy the town. Keep your little ‘Anko-chan~’ safe, eh, Hatake?”

 Kakashi huffed defiantly. “She’s not-”

 “You better go catch up to her,” Tsunade interjected, “before she keels over in the street.”

 Kakashi nodded. “Thank you, Tsunade-sama,” his tone was sincere although deep down the sentiment was ingenuine.

 “Be safe, Kakashi.”

 ------------------------------------------------------

 Anko had made minimal progress in getting towards her shared apartment with Kakashi. She clutched her right hip, limping in misery as she carried her tattered and drenched beige jacket.

 Using a transformation jutsu, Kakashi appeared aside her.

 “Going easy on me?” he chided.

 Rolling her eyes, Anko let out a frustrated sigh. Collecting herself immediately, she replied, “I always do.” She tilted her head and looked up with a mischievous twinkle in her eye.

 Kakashi eyed Anko’s signature trench coat that seemed to be weighing the the injured kunoichi down.

 “Hey. Let me see that,” he said with a cool voice. Kakashi took hold of Anko’s coat and in the same movement wrapped his other arm around her waist to support his staggering friend.

 Anko didn’t want to admit it, but due to her excruciating pain, she was in dire need of the physical support and thankful for the gesture.

 “Is that a Hello Kitty messenger bag?” she laughed while eyeing the satchel at Kakashi’s waist.

 Kakashi’s eyes closed as he gave her a coy grin, “It sure is. I went to Gai’s house before I got here to get my first aid kit.”

 “Your first aid kit is a Hello Kitty bag?”

 “Yeah. You like it~?”

 Staring at Kakashi with almost bloodthirsty eyes, Anko smirked and said, “I’m gunna steal it.”

 Kakashi manically widened his eyes at Anko and in a sinister voice replied, “Good luck.~”

 “So.. is that what took you so long?” Anko droned, holding her head up crooked.

 “I also told Tsunade to go fuck herself.”

 Anko’s eyes bulged out of her skull and she leaned into Kakashi’s arm, letting out a muffled “WHAAAAAAT?” into his shoulder.

 She lurched forward, gripping his arm tightly and with a with an unhinged expression she warned, “We’re so fucked, we’re gunna get kicked out-“

 “I’m just kidding, Anko-chan,” Kakashi chuckled with a fond smile towards the kunoichi.

 “You’re always full of shit,” Anko muttered, as she tripped while playfully nudging Kakashi.

 Kakashi tightened his grip on Anko as gravity caused her to stray downward. Something about her started to seem off.

 “Anko-chan,” Kakashi started.

 “Hm,” Anko looked up to him through her daze.

 He looked at her straight on and in a soft but stern voice he said, “Please don’t ever do something like this again.”

 Anko knitted her eyebrows together and for a moment looked as if she was going to cry, but after a moment she regained composure.

 Kakashi continued, “There’s a difference between the “Will of Fire” and self destruction. I- .. Konoha can’t afford to lose you.”

 Looking down, Anko smiled to herself for a second before moving her gaze back up to Kakashi.

 “Softie,” she said.

 Kakashi blushed and quickly exhaled through his nose. After he recovered, he asked,

 “Are you afraid of the effects of the poison, Anko-chan?”

 She paused for a long moment and even stopped in her tracks.

 Finally she responded, “No… like I said... I have an antibody. Nothing’s going to happen.”

_"But those who abandon their comrades are worse than scum!”_


End file.
